Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
2. The case of claim 1, wherein the deformation is detected based on changes in a number of the plurality of contact points.
3. The case of claim 1, further comprising an accelerometer for determining an orientation of the tray, wherein the relative positions of the plurality of contact points is tracked based on the orientation.
4. The case of claim 3, wherein the plurality of contact points is not tracked when the tray has a tilted orientation.
5. The case of claim 1, wherein further comprising a pressure sensor.
6. The case of claim 5, wherein the pressure sensor is configured to detect whether the dental appliance is on the tray.
7. The case of claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor comprises a digitizer platform.
8. The case of claim 7, wherein the digitizer platform comprises a capacitive sensor to detect each of the plurality contact points and a corresponding location of each of the contact points on the tray.
9. The case of claim 8, wherein the digitizer platform comprises an array of electrodes to detect locations of the plurality of contact points based on an electrical current between the array of electrodes and the plurality of contact points.
10. The case of claim 8, wherein the at least one sensor comprises a conductive sensor configured to detect a plurality of parallel conductive traces on the dental appliance.
11. The case of claim 8, wherein the digitizer platform comprises a digitizer coupled to processor to determine corresponding locations of the plurality of contact points on the tray.
12. The case of claim 8, wherein the digitizer platform is configured to detect locations of a plurality of contact points of a polymeric shell appliance.
13. The case of claim 8, wherein the digitizer platform is configured to detect locations of each of the plurality of contact points with a spatial resolution finer than about 1 mm.
14. The case of claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor is configured to detect the deformation based on tracking three-dimensional (3D) points of the dental appliance.
15. The case of claim 14, wherein the at least one sensor comprises an optical sensor.
16. The case of claim 15, wherein the at least one sensor comprises a camera to generate an image of the appliance on the tray and detect the deformation based on the image.
17. The case of claim 15, further comprising a light emitter, and wherein the optical sensor is configured to detect a plurality of reflective markers on the dental appliance.
18. The case of claim 14, wherein the at least one sensor comprises a magnetic sensor configured to detect a plurality of magnets on the dental appliance.
19. The case of claim 1, further comprising a tag reader for identifying the dental appliance.
20. The case of claim 19, wherein the tag reader comprises one or more of a QR code reader, a bar code reader, or an RFID scanner.
21. The case of claim 1, wherein the case is operatively coupled to a processor configured to determine a treatment modification based on the deformation.
22. The case of claim 1, further comprising a processor operatively coupled to the at least one sensor to determine a first shape of the appliance at a first time and a second shape of the appliance at a second time and to detect the deformation based on a difference between the first shape and the second shape.
23. The case of claim 22, wherein the processor comprises one or more of a processor supported with the tray or a remote server.
24. The case of claim 22, wherein the processor comprises instructions to detect deformation of the appliance in response to a difference in relative locations of a plurality of contact points.
25. The case of claim 22, wherein the first shape comprises a first number of contact points and a second shape comprises a second number of contact points and wherein the processor comprises instructions to detect deformation of the appliance in response to a difference between the first number of contact points and the second number of contact points.
26. The case of claim 22, wherein the processor comprises instructions to determine an orientation of the appliance, the orientation comprises a first orientation corresponding to an occlusal side of the appliance contacting the tray and a second orientation corresponding to a gingival side of the appliance contacting the tray.
27. The case of claim 22, wherein the processor comprises instructions to determine a plurality of shapes of the appliance over a plurality of days, and wherein the processor is configured to detect deformation of the appliance.
Unknown
March 14, 2023
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